Filner on trade mission: 'speak in English'

Former San Diego mayor says successor was 'unbelievably embarrassing'

Tijuana Mayor Carlos Bustamante, left, and San Diego Mayor Bob Filner, center, during an April 2013 trade mission to Mexico City, undertaken by business leaders and government officials.
— Submitted by San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce

Tijuana Mayor Carlos Bustamante, left, and San Diego Mayor Bob Filner, center, during an April 2013 trade mission to Mexico City, undertaken by business leaders and government officials.
/ Submitted by San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce

Mayor Bob Filner’s signature brashness was on display during a trade mission to Mexico City, a four-day trip aimed at building business relationships and discussing projects like a planned binational airport terminal and cruise ship arrivals in Ensenada.

But instead of putting his best statesmanlike foot forward, Filner ended up with it in his mouth, according to an account related to the U-T by former Mayor Jerry Sanders, who now heads the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce that organizes the annual trip.

One incident, which became “the talk of the mission” afterward, took place at a meeting of the San Diego-area attendees and their Mexican counterparts.

“We were in Mexican customs and border protection, and we’re in Mexico City, and he stood up and demanded they speak in English,” Sanders said.

“I think everybody was a little bit shocked,” Sanders said. “I know that the business people were shocked that he would say something like that representing us.

“We’d go to other meetings. If people missed it, they’d say, ‘Was there another Bob event?'”

Sanders has called on Filner to resign, saying that city business has ground to a halt amid sexual harassment allegations against Filner.

During the incident described by Sanders, Mexican Consul General Maria de los Remedios Gómez Arnau had been translating for the group. She is the highest-ranking Mexican diplomat in the San Diego area.

“He was very abrupt and impolite to the (consul) in front of everybody,” said Ed Plant, a businessman on the trip.

Plant said it was Filner’s delivery, rather than his apparent intent, that struck him as off-key. A public demand, rather than a discreet request.

Plant, who has been on two of the chamber’s trips, said he was able to navigate the conversations just fine.

“I had no problems. I do not speak Spanish. If I had a question, I asked,” said Plant, president of Harborside, a cold storage business that handles fish, vegetables and strawberries from Mexico.

“The thing is that when you’re dealing with a foreign country like Mexico they do have their protocols,” Plant said. “I don’t think (Filner) followed the protocol very well of dealing in international business.”

At another meeting at the American consulate, Sanders said Filner “just started ripping them for not solving all these problems. I mean, very rude, and everybody’s just kind of sitting back, saying, ‘Whoa.’”

“It was unbelievably embarrassing,” Sanders said. … “You could just hear people gasp.”

Filner has addressed crowds in Spanish and Tagalog, and at his inauguration ceremonies lauded Tijuana’s soccer team, in Spanish, for winning Mexico’s championship game. The mayor, discussing his recent trip to France, also told reporters how people abroad lack a full understanding of how integrated San Diego and Tijuana are.

A call for comment to his spokeswoman, Lena’ Lewis, was not immediately returned.

In another incident, Filner was set to open a meeting at the American Chamber of Commerce.